Mystery, Stoats and Thermodynamics
by anythingbutessays
Summary: An explosion in Zootopia's world famous climate wall sets nick and Judy on a case where more than justice is on the line. One witness manages to divide the hops and wild with their different outlooks on life. I fell in love with this big hunk of civil engineering and instantly wanted to explore it, (by whitch I mean sabotage) (rated T for bodily harm)
1. Chapter 1

**Mystery, stoats and thermodynamics.**

 **An explosion in Zootopia's world famous climate wall sets nick and Judy on a case where more than justice is on the line.**

 **This was going to be a chapter in my Animalia festival lectures but in thinking about the workings of the wall I found a really fun way to sabotage it (Mwa Ha Ha) and so it's wild and hops to the rescue.**

Reginald Thompson, a muntjac deer, sat cross legged at the security desk. It was end of the morning shift and there wasn't much to do. He monitored the stats on the technicians, watching their little green dots scamper around the tunnels on a schematic of the massive peace of air conditioning. Next to that, a bank of screens showed feeds from the airlocks and tunnels of the "great hall", as the privileged few who worked their called it.

He was gazing fondly at technician Lawrence, a doe, down airlock feed 32 when everything went green; a claxon was preceded with a distant rumble. He bolted upright, knowing what that meant, an refrigerant breach, he looked to his monitor checking that the automatic emergency procedures had run, they had; Compressor 5 had cracked and was being isolated. The gas (stained green for safety) was already being pumped and stored, sucking in clean air from the outside.

More pressing was a little green dot, labelled "kingdom", charging towards a staff airlock, pursued by a wave of red dots as gas detectors tripped. He saw a green flash as the door opened and sighed in relief at a red flash as it closed. He grabbed his microphone, dialling her frequency. "Kingdom, is everything OK"

"I'm fine" came a voice muffled by respirator. "Is every one out".

"Yes you were the only one in."

Half a kilometre away a small mammal slid to the floor of her airlock, panting praise through her respirator.

 _This is the lunchtime news with Fabienne Growley:_

 _"Fears in Sahara Squair and tundra town this afternoon as an explosion in the climate wall jeopardises the district's ability to face the coming heat wave, police are following up allegations of sabotage while city officials are organising possible evac…"_

The screen went black

"Come on carrots," called nick from behind the sofa, remote in paw, "time for work, apparently were following up allegations of sabotage." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup," exclaimed Judy, bouncing from the couch, "dibs not buying coffee."

"It's my turn anyway carrots," nick smiled, following Judy out of their shared apartment (two bedrooms (didn't stop the gossip)) and headed to the station.

The bright blue sky contrasted with the earthy hues of downtown Zootopia as nick and Judy took their usual shortcut through a park. It was mid-day, the roads were quiet and the park was packed as workers enjoyed their lunch hour in the warm sunshine. Nick stole a glance at the ever-present figure of the climate wall on the horizon, nothing seemed wrong; no Smoak rose from the exhaust ports, no sirens screamed in its direction but it was one of those perfect days that he felt often begged for disaster.

At the station, nick exchanged his usual greeting with Clawhouser while Judy stifled a smile in spite of herself as the cheetah danced around the C-word to describe the pair.

They had barely sat down in the bullpen when Bogo burst through the door at the head of the room; a tick on his face that they instantly associated with phone calls from politicians (and Nick opening his mouth).

"Right, no beating about the bush today, I assume everyone saw the news this morning."

A unanimous nod,

"Good, because everyone is on beat in Sahara Squair and tundra town. If we need to Evacuate we'll be on hand to help and put down any unrest, so full riot gear in trunks. In the meantime we'll be streaming CCTV to your cruisers. The wizards in the lab have confirmed the use of explosives, so we have a mammal to catch but no description, so that's where we're starting."

"Hops, wild, you're going to the wall to question the staff. We would bring them in but their spread even thinner over there than we are. This is a mammal hunt so we need to work fast. While you're there you'll also be our eyes and ears; we need to know if and when they miss the deadline so we can begin to evacuate. City hall is already planning what to do but you're our go no-go."

Nick and Judy nodded.

"And finally" he said, lifting a sheet of paper and smiling maliciously. "Verner; parking duty. Judy jumped as the ferret next to her face planted the table, the rest of the room laughed; someone wolf whistled causing the ferrets ears to turn red.

There was a knock at the door, followed by a panting Clawhouser, chief, precinct five is calling for backup, looting on Snowcastle way.

Bogo nodded gruffly. "Right, I want everyone suited, booted and off an hour ago. Even if the wall dose go south there Will - Be – Order". There was an instant scuffing of chairs as the room stood up and headed for the door.

Nick and Judy had yet to see the ZPD at full defcon 5. They were picking up their case file from Clawhouser as the entirety of precinct one charged out the locker rooms in full riot gear, for the larger mammals this meant little more than some fire proofing atop the standard body armour but when Wolford jogged past he was wearing something equitable to a bomb suit, while he wouldn't likely be put up against a rhino he still needed to be up for anything.

As they cruised through downtown, the north end of the climate wall loomed ahead of them. A hum of confusion came from the driver's seat. "What's up carrots?"

"Just wondering why Verner's on parking when everyone's on high alert.

"He's still on parking after he came in cuffed to a head board." Judie yucked then giggled in recollection.

"So, who's our guide for the day?"

"Izabella "Izzie" kingdom", began nick, "she's a wire rat, hails from the slots in Sahara district; only mammal in the wall when the explosion went off. She's their PR mammal as well; so if we're lucky we'll get a tour"

"Wire rat? Never heard of one of those before, got a photo?"

"She's actually a stoat, wire rat's her profession; she's a specialist electrician in the wall, runs cables down the tunnels, damn dangerous if she gets it wrong." He said passing a drivers licence photo of a mustelid in her early thirties. "I heard of one that didn't notice a steam leak, got found cut in half and par-boiled."

Judy rolled her eyes, knowing by now not to trust most of what came out of nicks mouth, before looking down at the photo. The animal had cut her brown and white summer coat brutally short, ruffled rings showed in the fur round her eyes where Judy imagined welding goggles often sat. Despite this she seemed remarkably well groomed for a mechanic; wearing a sun yellow blazer over a floral v neck shirt, a set of small shielded sunglasses tucked in to a Brest pocket. Her eyes open and honest; Judy was reminded of a hardy Mrs Otterton.

Nick and Judie pulled up outside the small meatal door hidden behind a substation, exiting the cruiser they paused to admire the veritable collage of black and yellow warning labels before pushing a buzzer. A caged light flashed, a Clackson sounded and the door clanged open. "Come on in," came a friendly, if crackly, voice from a speaker in the ceiling. They walked tentatively through the arch of a meatal detector and were greeted by an empty room as the door closed behind them. They wheeled around only to see, behind a bullet proof screen, a friendly looking stag in orange overalls, he waved before leaning forward to speak in to an intercom. "I'll need ID and stick any weapons in the lockers in front of you please." Judy and nick both placed their badges and warrant cards against the glass then placed their Tranquilisers in the lockers. Judie rolled her eyes as nick made a show of placing a bright pink can of fox repellent alongside the gun, he kept it to annoy Judie more than anything but it had come in useful on more than one occasion (even if it meant taking himself out at the same time as the perp).

The lockers clicked and the door ahead of them opened with a clang.

They were greeted by the stoat herself; she was Judy's height (sans ears) but skinnier, perfect for navigating narrow tunnels; once chasing rabbit's, now fixing sophisticated machinery. She wore the bright orange overalls of the city mechanics with a high Vis waste coat on top and matching hard hat. While she obviously wasn't going for the badass mechanic look she was sporting a grubby neckerchief and welding goggles around her long neck and a utility belt that put the ZPD to shame; covered in monitors, meters and tools that put her firmly in the "highly skilled" bracket of the job market.

"Afternoon," she said brightly, offering a paw to Judy (them being closest in size). "Sorry for the inconvenience but we're in full crises mode." She smiled, jumping as her radio squawked, hastily turning down the volume. "I have half an hour off but I really need to get back, were running all the auxiliaries at full to compensate for the loss and we need to get the compressor back on line before sun-up or we start overheating."

"I'm sorry?" said Judy, looking confused

"Let's walk and talk," the mechanic beckoned the pair forward

"You understand the wall is basically a giant air conditioner, sucking in the ambient air and cooling it down for tundra town while the hot exhaust heats the Sahara district."

A nod,

"The problem comes in the summer when the ambient air is already thirty degrees; we have to cool the air by fifty degrees for tundra but that means that the exhaust would be at seventy degrees, far too hot for Sahara. So instead we have a secondary system cool the exhaust and dump all the excess heat in to the bedrock, Sahara Squair doesn't cook, tundra town stays cool and we have a massive heat reservoir that we can tap in to during the winter when the problem is reversed."

She led nick and Judy through to a locker room; they were given gas and water monitors, respirators, high vis jackets and helmets; Izzy continuing to fill them in.

"That's what makes this attack so weird; you'd expect someone to go for the main fans. But they went for the heat pump compressors, AKA that secondary system, without that system the excess heat has nowhere to go but the rest of the wall can continue running as normal."

They climbed in to a golf buggy and passed down a long tunnel lit by strip lights; the low concrete ceiling making the officers feel the weight of sandstone above them. Finally a set of heavy blast doors acted as an air lock in which the trio pulled faces as their ears popped.

"we've got enough toxic refrigerant in here to suffocate half the city; keeping the pressure down makes sure nothing nasty can get out when something goes wrong. Always been a pain but we're damn thankful today."

After a pause the doors opened releasing a wave of heat as the ceiling flew in a triumphant sweep skyward. A great hall stretched for kilometres in to the distance; beams of hazy sunlight shon through slot shaped ports in the ceiling on to great cylinders of rock encased in complicated metalwork; rumbling in a note so low that the officers felt it in their chests as much as their ears.

the century old machines that quite literally set in stone a cities determination to face and to overcome the divisions of nature; as it was often said, the wall that built bridges.

Nick and Judy stared for a second before there was a cry of pain from nick, there was still a strong smell of stale urine in the air, the remnants of the breach. What was strong to Judy was agonising to nick who clutched his muzzle in pain with one paw while reaching for the respirator on his belt popping it from its canister and affixing it with help from Izzie,

"Sorry, should have warned you," the insides of her ears blushing "you get used to it after a few hours."

Judy held her nose but resolved at least one of them should be able to talk clearly. Nick had already recovered and was making darth Vader noises.

"So, what happens if you over heat?" Asked Judy, tentatively removing her paw.

"Should that happen we only have two options;" continued Izzie as they traversed the floor of the hall towards the nearest cylinder; a massive number 5 etched in to its side. "We begin dumping the heat in to the exhaust and cook Sahara Squair or we shut down and let tundra town thaw, either way we'll need to Evac the district and the property damage will be phenomenal."

"Can't we just meet in the middle, warm things up just a little," Suggested nick

"It's the hottest week of the year; tundra town is taking all we've got and Sahara Squair is running at fifty degrees virtually on its own. This is the worst time it could have possibly happened, it's all or nothing." She paused before adding. "But it won't come to that, we run a tight ship here; we can replace anything short of an entire core within twelve hours. Anyway, its half an hour until anyone's on break so I'll introduce you to our baby,"

She floored the accelerator (why couldn't the ZPD get carts this good) and they sped across the expanse of stone towards a crew of technicians crowded around a mass of twisted meatal, pulling up some twenty meters away; far enough that Judy wasn't defend by the screeches of the pneumatic tools being used to loosen the compressor from its mounting.

The damage was shocking, the casing was shattered and bent outwards like a flower; the compressors interior glistened with broken blades.

"The breech looked normal until we saw the outside of the shell" Izzy shouted of the scream over tools, holding up a fragment of meatal for them to see, the paint was blackened and broken despite being on the outside, the remanence of an explosion.

Nick whistled, running his fingers over the rough edges.

"You bet, we found that little beauty embedded in the wall two stories up, anyway Let's get moving" said Izzy as the last of the bolts came clear, "give them some room."

The three mammals climbed the exterior of core five for a better view, next to them they could see the overhead crane trundling down one of the galleries, a massive lump of cast iron hanging from its belly, nick and Judy assumed it to be one of the new pumps by the intricate fan work visible in its mouth.

"How good is the CCTV coverage asked nick?" Curious what the rest of the force had to work with.

"In here? Terrible; we don't expect anyone to get this far, the real threat has always been to the main fans. I'll show you now." She turned to continue up the stairs when an almighty bang behind them caused her to stop in her tracks.

As the Crain reached the empty bay the driver, an antelope sat in a nest of levers, had applied the brakes; there was a series of bangs from the wheels and the crane judderd violently. The quick release hook strained then gave off an immense crack as the pump dropped to the thankfully empty floor. The cable however, suddenly free of tonnes of engineering, rocketed towards the winding gear, over shot and whipped around the cabin.

An alarm sounded as glass shattered and Izzy, Judie and nick stared.

Judy reached for her radio "precinct one, officer hops, 10 43, crane driver, antelope, hit by cable"

"Condition?"

"Unknown"

Her and nick were already climbing towards the ceiling to try and get a better look. A badger in a safety harness was already inching his way along the cranes girders; angle grinder in paw.

Dun Dun Duuuun.

Will the driver survive, will hops and wild catch the bomber, and will the author admit that ammonia is the wrong refrigerant for high temperature uses.

Find out soon…

This is my first attempt at narrative; so all reviews, comments and suggestions are massively appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, chapter two and apologies for the appalling spell check in chapter one (and probably all coming chapters). I am trying (honest).

Reviews are always welcome, particularly constructive criticism as I'll never improve until I know how bad I am.

 **Small context note: "bunny suits" are the white hooded paper coveralls warn by forensics crews (that make them like bunnies).**

 **Onwards and upwards!**

* * *

All they could do was stand by and watch as the rescue crew, ever so delicately, cut in to the cabin. Nick and Judy stood well back but a Izzie distraught rushed down the stairs; following the crew as they belayed to the cavern floor with the driver strapped to a stretcher, landing next to an ambulance that had fast-tracked the cargo entrance.

She dropped to her knees as the doors slammed shut, Judy rushed up placing her arm on the stoats shoulder, consoling her, they had seen the blood gushing from his lower leg but the paramedics had maintained the calm urgency that Judy had come to associate with patients who were going to make it.

Its ok, he's going to be all right. It's just his leg.

Izzy sniffed and straitened her head, calming down. Then her ears that had begun to perk dropped flat as she looked Judy in the eye. "Were going to miss the deadline" she coughed, placing a paw on judies arm. "You need to evacuate, now, I don't know what the final decision is but it needs to be made now."

Judy was taken aback, whether it was just professionalism or something else that had caused the small mechanic to lock down.

Nick ripped of his mask, cringing at the acrid air, but held it until he could pull out his radio.

"Precinct one, Officer Wild, evacuation is go, evac is go. The wall won't be operational on time."

"10 4" came Clawhouser's reply, a nervous catch in his voice. "Have they got a new estimate on restart?"

"At least 20 hours, we need to ship in another compressor from outside the city," came a shout from a mongoose who overheard the conversation. "And fix this damn thing." He gestured at the Crain. Nick relayed the message, getting a sigh from Clawhouser.

"Chief is going to love this, Control out"

Izzy, who had been standing staring at the shattered compressor, swallowed hard before straitening up. With a few deep breaths she cleared her head; there was nothing more they could do, so she smiled, looked towards the officers and carried on. "Onwards and upwards" she said brightly; Surprising nick and Judy with her return to form.

* * *

They re-climbed the rough mettle stare case on the outside of core five before entering through a round port, the walls riddled with piping. There was some lighting but Judy switched her head lamp on none the less; while Izzie and Nick, both traditionally nocturnal, simply waited briefly for their eyes to adapt.

"So, this is the domain of the wire rat, sure you don't need a pulse rifle?" nick commented on the grated floor and low lighting.

"We rather you go with hazardous environment technician, but yes it is. And let's just say we have our fair share of ghosts, construction workers crushed and technicians who stepped wrong." She smiled back at them "Oh and Make sure you stay behind me, I'm sure you've heard of the badger and the steam leak."

Judy cringed, looking up a nick in dis-belief and quickly falling in to step behind Izzie, who led them to the end of the corridor; where day light returned flickering like a faulty neon lamp.

They stepped out on to an inspection platform enclosed in a glass bubble, Judy and nick stepped back in shock, they were standing at the core of the great stone tube, a void a hundred meters across. Above them a great dome of stone and steel trusses supported a gigantic fan. Below them the tube disappeared in to blackness; something more suitable to a science fiction film than the real world.

Izzie let them stare for a few seconds; obviously enjoying showing off her pride and joy; "this is the usual terrorist threat" She began. "The top of the wall is riddled with CCTV and guards, all you'd need to do to take us out is drop a bomb down a few of these and the wall wouldn't function at all. That's what makes this attack so odd; as you'd need to break in to get to the compressor."

They gazed at the sight for a few more seconds when Izzy lent over the railing peering down across the void, "The hell" she whispered; before turning and sprinting down a side tunnel.

"What is it" shouted Judy in hot pursuit

"Someone on the lower deck," came an echoed reply.

"You sure it's not another technician"

"Core 4 and 5 are my babies, if anyone is in here I get fair warning."

"You don't have any awesome railing-less bridges we can take over the abys do you?" Nick muffled sarcastically, chasing after the smaller mammals.

* * *

They reached the lower observation deck to find it empty.

While Izzy radioed security, Judy and nick broke out the pen lights and rubber gloves, the platform had loads of nooks and crannies that could hide dropped evidence, mind you, so did the entire facility.

They searched for a good ten minutes but found nothing. Security reported nothing on cameras; much to a nervous Izzy's dismay.

"We'll get The Bunny suits down here and have them sweep for prints and DNA but no promises" said nick. "in the meantime me and Judy will get to know the other staff, see if anything suspicious turns up. "

* * *

Ten minutes later, having extracted themselves from the three dimensional maze that was core five Nick and Judy sat in the mechanics brake room, since all shifts were flat out and it wasn't going to be used any time soon, they had an on sight interrogation suit where they could talk to staff on their staggered lunch breaks. They were sitting in silence waiting for their first customer.

"We have to accept this is an inside job, said nick breaking the silence; everyone is a suspect. Let's get to Clawhouser and have him run financials and background on everyone. I'll bet they were being blackmailed in to it"; he pulled out his radio.

"But.." Judie paused, then lowered the paw she had raised in objection, while nick had taught her not to trust anyone on first impressions alone she found it hard to believe that Izzy would have anything to do with sabotaging her pride and joy, or, for that matter, any other of the proud technicians they had bumped in to that day. Nick could tell she wanted to defend the friendly stoat.

"Goggles may have put on a good show back there but take an ex-hustler's word, she's hiding something" he said as he used the radios text function to contact the precinct.

"See how she went mad over that driver; then when it was just a leg she calmed right back down. If he was a close friend then she would still be off her head, if not she wouldn't have put on that show before she knew he was going to be alright; that carrots, was guilt talking." He crossed his arms leaning back in his seat his radio back in his pocket.

"She could just have been putting on a brave face for us. they can't afford to lose any staff let alone two." Judy huffed, annoyed at nicks cynicism, but the detective in her was confused at the stoat's erratic mood swings.

"Let's say this. If, when forensics gets down hear; her ghost in the machine turns out to be real, then I take it back and owe you and her a drink; if not and she turns out guilty then I finally get a second chance to meet your parents."

Judy huffed again before shaking the foxes paw, knowing it would somehow come back to bite her.

* * *

First up was a small deer: unlike Izzy she _was_ going for the badass engineer look, she had rolled up her sleeves as far as they would go, had two small studs in her ear and chose to ware her goggles on her forehead. Upon entering the room she slumped down with little of the grace usually associated with her species and began munching on a salad; eyeing the cops with an air of suspicion.

"Nichole Lawrence, of 24 penny lane, the meadows?" began Judy

"Yep, call me nick."

Fine, nick, we understand that you had only just exited the hall when the explosion went off. According to security ten minutes before your shift finished. Would you care to explain your impeccable timing?"

"No idea, I'd finished the docket and was clocking off; I do it all the time, check my records."

"In that case have you seen anything odd in the past weeks, anyone you don't recognise or anything out of place?"

"You don't think were not continually hammered with anti-terrorism drill here. If I'd seen anything I'd have called it in long ago."

"Has anyone changed their behaviour lately, become stressed or missed shifts, asked for money?"

"Nope"

"Are you sure?"

"We're a tight knit crew here; it's dangerous, with long shifts. We trust one another. You of all people should understand that, officer."

"Judy paused, of cause she did; but she pushed anyway."

"You still spend long periods alone in their, you don't know what your colleagues are doing."

"That's for the CCTV and transceivers to answer not me, she batted back," ripping the head of a celery stalk with her teeth. Nick shudderd, glad she lacked canines.

"Nick" began Judy

"Yes" they both replied,

Judy and Nicole both glared at nick; who raised his paws in surrender.

"Yes officer" replied Nicole in a far calmer voice.

"What routs are there in to the wall."

The deer lent back, thinking. "Security, as you came in; cargo, also very heavy security." She listed off on her three fingered hooves. "Storage has an external door but that can only be opened from the inside and the internal door comes through cargo; someone once tried to abseil in to one of the cores, didn't end well for him" she smiled grimly.

Nick and Judy frowned.

"Thanks nick, that's all," Judy stood up, nick and Nicole followed suit.

"Thanks officers, promise me you're going to get these bastards, we've never had a failure like this before and Izzie's home may be going up in flames tomorrow, so we'll do our best if you do yours."

"We will, said nick," making rare eye contact.

Nichole smiled and waved as she shut the door behind her.

* * *

The rest of the interviews went much the same. Personalities varied but they were all respectful, intelligent and proud individuals, as Izzie had said "hazardous environment technicians" not "wire rats."

Nick and Judy took turns asking the questions but little turned up beyond gossip. After two hours they had met everyone with hall level clearance and were staring at a dead end when nicks radio squawked.

"Wild" he held the talk button.

"Wild, precinct 1," came Clawhouser's voice "we've got the financials on the crew, I've sent them to your phone but you're out of range, let's just say we have a lead."

Judy grabbed the radio, "anything on Izzie kingdom"

"Uurh, high Judy." Clawhouser sounded confused, pausing as he scrolled through a spreadsheet, "no, nothing on her, no connections no weird payments in or out, no priors."

"Ha! I told you," she punched nicks arm, "squeaky clean, no connections, no payments, No priors."

"Calm yourself carrots, she may have fewer mob connections than you but that doesn't make her innocent."

Judy glared at him; she would never forgive him for the time he let that little fact drop in front of her parents.

* * *

Back outside the wall nick and Judy slumped in the cruiser, air con on full. Nick reached in to the glove box and pulled out a spray can labelled musk mask, he sniffed his pits before briefly spraying, paused, shrugged and shot the aerosol down his pants. Judy recoiled.

"Nick, be professional."

"Trust me carrots, theirs's nothing professional about odour naturel on a fox." He said capping the can and throwing it back in the glove box; before whipping out his phone and refreshing the emails.

"Here we are" he said, bringing up a file showing a smattering of minor convictions, "dodgy bank statement, public nudity; nothing much, ah wait, here! Ten thousand paid by Bitecoin to one Charles Vayu; recently admitted to Zootopia general with lacerations to leg after industrial accident."

"Downtown it is then carrots"

* * *

 **Hope your enjoying** (please let someone read this far), **if so (or if not) pleas leave a review**


	3. Chapter 3

**In this chapter I'm following the British rule that police may accept tea from a member of the public as hospitality without compromising impartiality, they may however not accept biscuits.**

* * *

 _Sahara Squair is in chaos after an evacuation was called earlier today when repairs to the climate wall were delayed. Tomorrow Sahara Squair will be subjected to temperatures in excess of ninety degrees for twelve hours as the wall is dedicated to keeping tundra town at a safe temperature. Citizens are advised to take any flammable materials they can carry in their vehicle and disconnect all electronics. Fire services will be flooding the district prior to sun rise to reduce the fire risk. Displaced citizens will be accommodated in the rainforest district. Check the city council website for details._

 _With us now to explain the highly controversial decision to favour tundra town over the Sahara district is our resident meteorologist, Leo Dutton._

 _Mr Dutton what is the thinking behind what many are calling a highly partisan decision._

 _Is a simple case of damage mitigation at this point Fabienne. If we were to do as many suggest and simply shut down the wall, sacrificing tundra town, we would lose one of the worlds cultural marvels. Much of the district is made entirely out of ice; If we let the temperature rise everything would be destroyed, not to mention the melt waters that would do massive damage to the surrounding districts._

 _On the other paw the Sahara district is made of stone and mud; while it houses similar marvels they are decidedly more robust. We expect fire and collapse on a local scale but we don't anticipate the city wide destruction that would be the alternative._

 _Isn't there anything that can be done, no last minute solution?_

 _While there are ideas their simply isn't the time to implement them, were talking machinery that takes months to manufacture, that has to withstand ludicrous pressures and temperatures, there's no such thing as jerry rigging a solution. if we're to save tundra town then the heat has to go somewhere and the explosion took that heats only other rout out._

* * *

Nick switched of the radio as he turned in to Zootopia generals multi story.

They exited the car hoping they could get to Vayu before visiting hours ended at 6pm. They jogged in to the great copper clad termite mound of a building, hurrying up to reception, badges flashing.

"Were here to interview Charles Vayu." panted nick.

The otter on reception tapped her keyboard before looking up.

"I'm sorry Mr Vayu is still in surgery."

"What!" Exclaimed Judy; "It was only his leg."

"That leg wasn't in a good state by the looks of it; deep tissue damage, takes a lot of work mend something like that."

"How long will he be under," asked nick

"He should be awake by nine but you'll have to wait for the psychologist's discretion."

"Damn," Judy stomped, nick would have remarked on her adorableness if he didn't share the sentiment.

* * *

"Is there anything we can do," began Judy back in the cruiser; "can we track the funds,"

"No, it went over the dark web,"

"Relations"

"No, bachelor immigrant"

"Mentioned by anyone's statement"

"nooooope"

She huffed, crossing her arms, glaring at the temporal brick wall they faced.

"Let's get something to eat, I'm starving" continued nick.

He pulled in to a diner and texted Clawhouser with the situation asking for a lead.

Inside the diner he and Judy acknowledged the usual "aren't you those cops" stair and ordered burgers to go. As they sat in the cruiser trying to keep crumbs off of the seats nicks phone dinged and he read the text.

"Hospital will notify you when Vayu is ready. Forensics will have report by nine, In meantime Report to Sahara Squair to assist Evac, C U thr ."

Nick smiled at Clawhouser usual signature. "Once more in to the breach dear carrots." He said as Judy tapped "Heat Street" in to their sat nav; stuffing the rest of his Bugburger in to his mouth and pulling out on to the duel carriageway.

* * *

"You remember that scene in every disaster film ever when the hero's drive towards the danger on a clear road while the other side is packed," commented nick,

"Uh Hu" said Judy, engrossed in the climate walls wiki article on her phone.

"Look up,"

Judy got shivers; they were the only vehicle on the flyover from downtown in to Sahara Squair while the traffic over the barrier was barely crawling along. The exodus was disturbing; cars packed high with goods, a grandfather clock hung out of the back of a convertible, a family of fennec foxes sat on the roof as it appeared they had crammed the car with every soft furnishing in their house. At intervals along the roadside volunteers handed out bottled water to weary travellers. Faces were glum; not sure what they would return to.

This was not a scene from the world's most affluent city.

Nick glanced at Judy, "chin up carrots, it's just for a few days. Its better their getting out now than later."

Judy's ears perked, "yep and were here to help."

"That's the spirit," replied nick, flicking the radio on,

" _Live from Sahara camp, rainforest district, we bring you gazeeeeeeeeeeelle."_

* * *

Judy and nick drove down the ramp entering the complex of slot canyons that dominated the "hot end" of Sahara Squair. The canyon was easily fifty meters deep with enough room for a two lane highway down the centre; along with the numerous street cafes and open front shops selling everything from jewellery to carpets to electronics. Every few meters a side canyon would flash past, giving the cruisers occupants a glimpse of a narrow canyon lined with more shops, apartments cut in to the rock all the way to the top. These were the famous slots and the district at greatest risk for the oncoming heatwave.

The cruiser pulled upon a sidewalk in Heat Street alongside some fifty other cruisers. There was a confusion of activity as officers were despatched and arrived. Nick and Judy clambered down from their oversized vehicle just as a pack of wolves in full riot gear charged in to a bully van which sped off towards some new occurrence.

In the centre of the organised mess was a cape buffalo looking considerably more harassed than usual. He looked up to see the two small officers, pinched the bridge of his broad nose, breathed deeply and moved towards them.

"this better be good; What's the case in the wall?"

"No joy chief, began Judy, were waiting for our only lead to wake up from surgery and we don't want to harass anyone needlessly; their on a tight schedule to avoid making this one day wonder in to a week." She finished brightly.

"Ok, forensics is doing a number on the wall. So until then I want you door nocking, checking that everyone is out. We don't want any little old lady who doesn't watch the news roasted alive, Dismissed."

Nick and Judy saluted then headed to a gazebo housing a series of tables holding medical supplies, food for officers and at the far end a desk at which sat Clawhouser, doughnut clenched between his teeth as he riffled through a stack of reports.

"Claw-man," called nick

"Hay guys" muffled Clawhouser, talking around the doughnut as he set down the reports.

"You got a roster for us"

"Yep, everyone we have any reason to believe may have missed the news, elderly, infirm, no TV bill. You guys are so lucky getting to go in the wall; nobody gets to go in there."

"Didn't you get in with school?"

"Yea but…"

"Yo!" a shout came from behind them. It was Wolford and Koreolev, the wolf and the goat looked very smug.

"What are you up to?" asked nick, eyebrow raised.

"Well, city authority wants people on the ground even when the walls on full blast, afraid someone may try taking advantage of an entire abandoned city. Fire Dep is in trouble, their life support only last an hour, they can get in and out in emergencies but little else," Explained Koreolev.

"So, our good friends over at the ZSA are lending us these little beauties." Wolford walked over to a covered crate propped against a wall, pulling off the sheet to reveal two chunky white suits, reflective glass visors were set in to wolf and goat shaped helmets, large backpacks displayed the blue insignia of the space agency while gold ZPD badges had been tacked to the shoulders.

"Shut up," exclaimed nick

Clawhouser Squeed.

* * *

Two hours later nick and Judy were returning to their cruiser, walking down a still bustling street as much of the district had yet to be evacuated. Bogo had been right; there were a remarkable number of little old ladies who seemed completely oblivious to the rest of the world. The barrage of old fashioned comments about foxes and rabbits had made a mundane job rather frustrating. Not to mention the elderly Ibex who flat out thought nick was running a home invasion scam; refusing to move until Judy called the ibex's daughter to explain.

"Clawhouser, Hops, we're all finished here, how's Vayu."

"No go Judy, he's still under, hospital says at least another hour till he wakes up, and then another till he makes any sense."

"Damn" whispered Judy under her breath before pushing the button to reply. "Anywhere were needed?"

"Nope, you guys are clear for coffee break, stand by for info. Out"

"Out," replied Judy huffing in frustration, hating waiting.

Nick looked at Judy, knowing she needed a distraction or she'd continue to be adorably frustrated until someone called her cute under their breath; then she'd explode in their face and make them cry.

It was then Judy spotted someone over nicks shoulder "Izzy!" she waved.

The stoat, still dressed in her orange overalls turned and smiled, walking over to them, "hay guys, what's up," she began.

"Killing time waiting for an interview, how you holding up?" asked nick, turning around smiling openly.

"Knackered but no more problems. We've been given five hours off while control runs diagnostics, So I'm trying to lock down the apartment. Come on up if your free," she offered smiling expectantly.

"We'd love to" said Judy following Izzy down a side gully, nick in tow. They walked down the narrow alley, weaving between pedestrians carrying belongings to vehicles parked in the mane canyon or loaded up with rucksacks headed for the metro. Stopping next to a carpet shop Izzy pulled out a key card, swiping a reader next to a wrought iron gate which swung open on to a narrow staircase cut in to the rock. They climbed five stories, each successively shorter than the last as each layer accommodated smaller and smaller animals. coming out on to a path cut in to the rock open to the gully on the left hand side, while arched wooden front doors occupied the right. Izzy halted at a sky blue door with a brass 45 screwed to the front

"Mi cassa es su cassa" she said opening the door. "Tea?"

"That would be great" said Judy

As they entered Izzy's apartment they found it pleasantly cool and dark inside. The rough stone walls reminding Judy of traditional rabbit warrens she had visited in school. The red sandstone provided a warm glow while the bands of rock made for natural wallpaper, it was a single room with a door leading to a small bathroom, barely thrice the size of judies first apartment but decidedly nicer. A small clean kitchenette, where Izzy busied herself, occupied the far corner; photos adorned the walls, a family of stoats, a graduation photo and groups of mammals in orange overalls pulling faces at the camera. A desk was littered with everything from potholing club leaflets to educational material on the wall.

"You have company?" Asked Judy, gesturing to the bunk bead that stood in an alcove.

"Yep, that's Sara's, been here a year; works somewhere downtown, she's lovely but I hardly see her she's so busy.

"Isn't this a bit close quarters" asked Nick.

"Not if you're brought up in the slots it isn't. There were fifteen in my litter, we all shared a bedroom; it was like a rabbit warren.." she stopped; looking at Judy with an awkward expression.

"Don't worry goggles, said nick, carrots here grew up with three hundred other fluff buts," he flinched in anticipation of the punch that followed,

"Two hundred and seventy five," Judy whispered through gritted teeth, smiling in spite of herself.

Izzy, momentarily confused by the nick-name was grateful for him taking the bullet and so continued her story. I tried moving in somewhere bigger out in the desert but I like small, and the rent is great,"

"You grew up here?" asked Judy,

"Yup, I know its weird coming from a stoat, winter coats are a nightmare I can assure you, but its where all my relatives are and I love it, you should be here when the place isn't being evacuated, the markets, the colour…" She sighed as she turned around, carrying three tall glasses full of mint leaves. Placing them on the small coffee table she returned to the kitchenette to retrieve an iron teapot.

Nick looked down at the old wooden table, admiring the geometric inlays he naturally associated with the arid parts of the world. He picked up a leaflet that lay there; it was obviously not for the public. The cover was plane but professional, inside was a lot of writing and not many pictures. "Threats and their solutions: upgrading the climate wall", He read aloud. "Seems you saw this coming," he said, holding up the leaflet;

"That's nothing" said Izzy pouring the tea, nodding to a stack of papers on the desk, "I've been working on an upgrade campaign that should make things like this impossible, the wall may be massive but it was still built on a budget back when health and safety was barely a twinkle in a trade union's eye."

"Hmm," nick thought, sipping the hot black tea, he didn't like coincidences but neither could he detect how this could be linked. Both he and Judy understood the plight of the public servant. While the ZPD was far from short on funds they were forever being told to tighten their belts as departments clamoured for additional cash. They could only imagine what maintain and upgrading a multi-billion dollar machine was like. Especially when beurocracy had a tendency to turn warnings of impending doom in to irritating requests as they moved up the chain.

"How will this place hold up tomorrow, it's not like theirs much wood?" Asked Judy,

"that's not the problem, when you get a fire round here it's so dry it only takes a spark to spread, and rock cracks with heat so a lot of mammals won't have much left." The mechanic seemed to deflate at the end of her sentence, her usually strait spine slumped, and her head and ears sagged as she gripped her glass of tea between her paws.

Judy leant forward, nothing but concern on her face, not meaning to set the conversation down such a rout. "Is not your fault, you had no way of stopping this" she looked intensely in to Izzy's eyes before she could make a retort, saying more with a look than words.

Izzy smiled but faltered, "it's so wrong, Charles getting injured like that."

"We're off to interview Mr Vayu as soon as he's up from surgery," said Judy seeing a chance to cheer up Izzy; whose head snapped up at the sound of his name.

"Is he OK,"

"He's fine" said nick encouragingly; "it really was just his leg."

"Thank god" Izzy breathed, her smile not quite returning but her ears returned to their usual erect state, growing with her relief. "More tea,"

"Yes please" said Judy, who had drained her glass, holding it out for the refill.

Keen to keep the subject light they talked about life in the slots. Nick added to her description with a few choice escapades of his own, while Judy, as ever, found herself listening in to the adventures of the city slickers with gleeful wonder at their strange childhoods of cramped quarters and adventures in the concrete jungle. Occasionally bemused by the interest they took in her own life in the country, Izzy seemed particularly interested in the stoats she referred to as living in their natural habitat.

While they spoke Izzy was busy cramming a duffle bag full of her most flammable and precious possessions. Thankfully it seemed she had perfected the art of living lightly but none the less she looked mournfully at her silk patterned bedspread, finding the bag already stuffed to overflowing.

"I'm sorry" said Judy as nicks phone bleeped indicating text from the hospital. "We need to get going, good luck with the repairs."

"Thanks for the support, go get em" said Izzy. Her face mournful yet hopeful as she showed the officers to the door, nick ducking slightly through the archway.

* * *

The sun had just set and the night air had cooled, even in Sahara squire. Despite this nick and Judy turned up the cruiser's AC, Judy was regretting wearing her insulating neoprene today while nick, was regretting wearing his dress shirt, which (despite his best efforts) was covered in machine oil.

They both sat their awkwardly; both knowing that had been more than a friendly chat.

"Well I don't know about you carrots but I recon you might as well make good on that bet."

Judy looked towards him, head tilted in confusion, "go on."

"I think, no, I know she's hiding something, she still all-over the place with Vayu and she's got a cover story all worked out. She's our best suspect, sans Ghosty McGhoasface; who she made up by the way."

"And what about those leaflets, the photos, she loves those mammals in the wall."

"Maybe, but your gunna half to improve your psychological profiles of you want to make detective. She still acted guilty as a fox in a bank vault."

"Nick,"

"We can still say it" nick retorted. "Anyway; even if all that was real it fits. The bomber waited for everyone to be out of the wall, perhaps the bomber cared for the technicians."

"And the leaflets,"

"Cover; she could have needed to research the wall and wanted to cover her tracks so she's been running the campaign. What you doing?"

"Calling city hall" said Judy. "If she was running this campaign as a cover then she wouldn't have pushed too hard in case it went through." She held up a fluffy finger to silence Nick's retort holding the phone to her ear. "Hello this is Judy hops ZPD, I'm enquiring as to a campaign being run by one Izabelle kingdom for upgrades to the climate wall. Yes I'll hold."

She held the phone away from her head putting on the speakers, "March of the animals" rang through the cruiser. Nick swung his head to the classical rhythm, finger ticking like a metronome, smirk on his muzzle while Judy rolled her eyes, waiting for the hold to end.

"George Buck, climate and utilities speaking."

"Hello Mr buck, Judy hops ZPD, were enquiring in to the attack on the wall and we wondered whether you have ever encountered an Izabelle Kingdom."

"Oh don't get me started," began the gruff voice, "inherited her from my predecessor. She's been at our throats for some ten years now. Worst thing is we know she's right, but budgets are budgets and the wall is being well maintained, "Why do we need to change it" say the higher ups. I suppose this all proves them wrong once and for all."

"Thank you sir, we may call again for a statement, good bye." She hung up. Grin on face, eyebrows raised in nick's direction.

"Perhaps she's playing the long game" said nick, shrugging his shoulders.

"Fat chance, I may not have lived off peoples insecurities and popsicles for twenty years but I know the truth when I see it, and she loves this place more than anywhere." Judy smiled, punching the engine start. As the engine roared in to life her nose twitched, "screw it, pass the can." She said holding out a paw. Nick obliged, passing the musk mask and smirking as the rabbit doused herself in deodorant.

"Tell no one," glared Judy, shifting the car in to drive.

* * *

 **hello again,**

 **thanks for reading and reviewing**


	4. Chapter 4

**_thanks to any and all who have made it this far, please review as i'd love to know what im getting wrong (and right (mabe(please)))_**

* * *

 _Protestors have gathered in heat street, Sahara Squair, and are refusing to move on despite police orders. They intend to force the cities paw in its decision to expose Sahara Squair to 90 degrees Celsius tomorrow. Fringe Political groups are up in arms as ..._

* * *

Back at the hospital nick and Judy were greeted by a solemn looking Orax in scrubs. She held her hooves clasped in front of her, a pose nick recognised as a universal omen of bad news. He allowed his eyebrows to raise a little as they approached.

"Officers theirs been a complication; we couldn't save Mr Vayu's leg."

"Is he OK" gasped Judy, her voice full of concern.

"You'll have to ask him that, please follow me." She led the officers to a private ward guarded by two dingos' in hospital security uniforms. Before entering she knelt to the officer's level, half whispering.

"You'll have to be brief; He's dosed up on morphine. I don't how much you'll get from him, be gentle, he's got a lot of grief coming his way."

Nick and Judy nodded before pushing the ward door open and slowly approached the bed. The antelope was in a poor state. His torso and right arm were encased in gauze bandage, the tip of his right antler was missing and a cage under his blanket kept the fabric from weighing on his raw stump.

He looked utterly defeated at the sight of the officers.

"Mr Vayu, were sorry we have to do this at such a time but do you mind answering a few questions." Judie began, her voice gentle, sympathetic but firm.

"I suppose I have little choice" slurred Vayu.

"You received a payment of ten thousand over the dark web last month," what was this for?

"To leave a door open"

"I'm sorry, Mr Vayu?"

"Leave a door open for fifteen minutes to the wall storage facility, no questions, money in the bank. I figured everything that goes in and out gets checked out thoroughly before use so harm no fowl; they probably just wanted to steal some parts. There's a lot of very expensive machinery in there. When I went to check the next day I was right, a hundred sets of titanium ring bearings, gone, they go for twenty thousand a pop."

"Has anything else been used from the stores since then."

"Not much, just the…" his eyes widened. "The crane; they overhauled the crane last week, new runners, new cables."

He looked like he was about the thump the table, but as he raised his fist he instead clutched his head as a wave of dizziness overcame him.

"Damn, damn, damn." He breathed.

Judie glanced at nick, her eyes wide with triumph before quickly returning to Vayu, a picture of concern.

"And could you tell us who planted the bomb."

He looked up at them still cradling his head. "No, I never knew anything about this. There was no way anyone could have made it from storage to the hall undetected. You think ten thousand is worth a bomb?"

The nurse came in to the room looking concerned; "Mr Vayu's heart rate is high. I'm going to have to ask you to leave officers."

"One last question" retorted nick. "Who paid you?"

"I never met anyone important; I was put on to them by a friend."

"Some friend," said nick

Vayu hung his head, his arms flopping to the bead covers; "put me on to a guy in Sahara Squair, palm view. Who set me up on the net; I got orders and money from there, nothing else."

"Can you describe him?"

"Bactrian Camel, skinny, wore a Hawaiian shirt and white shorts, smoked a role up. I was told to call him Jimmie."

The nurse move forwards, but Judy turned first, "that will be all, thank you Mr Vayu." She and nick proceeded out the door; leaving the nurse to attend her patient.

* * *

Walking out the hospital lobby Nick pulled out his radio, "dispatch, wild, I need an ID and locate on a Bactrian camel. Goes by the name Jimmie, casual dresser, smoker, skinny, operates out of Sahara Squair providing hook ups. Dark web links."

"It's in the computer now," came Clawhouser's voice.

And get forensics to check the Crain for sabotage, added Judy.

"Shure thing," replied Clawhouser,

As they climbed in to the cruiser the clock ticked over to nine pm They had only been up ten hours but it had been full out. nick gave a wide yawn, rolling his tongue and showing his teeth as he stretched back in his chair a wine escaping his throat while Judy typed up an interview summery. Nick sat back watching animals walk in and out of the building.

"So" said Judy looking up from the dash screen

"Obstruction in trunk" called nick, smiling and waving to a disgruntled looking elephant

"What's a camel doing sabotaging the climate wall."

"Mange, and bad" nick hissed through his teeth, recoiling slightly

"NICK,"

"Sorry,"

"What's - a - camel - doing - sabotaging - the - climate - wall."

"He likely has no idea what his employer is in to, He may be from out of town or just heartless, probably all three." Nick said offhand leaning forward in his chair, enjoying his new game. "used to be impossible to stay anomalous in the underworld now anyone can be anywhere and no one knows who you are, on the bright side that means no back up and no friends when the fuzz come a-knockin."

"Hmm," Judy sighed, wondering if this would be another dead end.

"Ha," nick pointed and laughed at a deer in a tux, supported by two similarly drunken bucks clambering out of a taxi, a toilet seat jammed firmly round his antlers. Judy supressed a chuckle as she felt her phone vibrate bringing up a drivers photo showing a seedy looking camel in his mid-forties, named Jimmie Lawrence. Known for debt collecting and "outreach activities" for gangs. A note attached said he lived in Sahara Squair and had been confirmed evacuated. The photo was being sent to the hospital to be confirmed by Vayu.

"To the rainforest then" nick said. Pulling out of the multi-story and taking a right towards the flyover that passed through one of the great columns of rock that separated rainforest from desert. "You think gazelle has finished yet"

* * *

Driving through the rainforest district there was a strange mood. Thousands of cars stacked high with belongings sat along the roadsides broken only by first aid and food tents, children played on disused scraps of ground giving the district the overcrowded and temporary feel of a refugee camp. Yet organised lines of mammals waited patiently outside regiments of porta-loos, yawning in dressing gowns and pyjamas. While down on the banks of the districts numerous canals thousands more colourful tents were pitched, glowing from within. All reminding Judy of the music festival her family's neighbours hired fields out to every summer. An observation that could at least in part be put down to Gazelle, who had apparently commandeered a cargo barge and had invited just about every music talent in the city to contribute to what was quickly becoming the free party of the century.

Following the coordinates sent to their GPS by the traffic centre, nick and Judy followed a road through the curve of an underpass and pulled up a few car-lengths behind their mark. They stepped out the cruiser, the stifling humidity of the night air rolling over them. The two small cops moved over to the parked car, paws on Tranquilisers, nick made a shush sign to a group of goat kids playing on the pavement who grinned back mackling excited little gestures at the sight of the cops. Judy edged round to look in to the front. The camel was asleep and snoring, his seat reclined as far as it would go. Judy nocked sharply on the passenger door, the camel jumped and stared at Judy before regaining his composure, smiling pleasantly at the officer without the slightest hint of warmth.

"Yes officer," he drawled.

"Jimmie Lawrence, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit sabotage."

The smile dropped. He jumped for the driver door only to be met by a fox wearing a grin that left words unnecessary. "Please try and run; I need some entertainment." The look was meant to intimidate, it usually worked; Not this time. Lawrence kicked the door causing Nick to stumble back. Nick saw Judy go for her tranquiliser. Knowing having an unconscious perp would set them back hours Nick jumped, bouncing off the car's trunk and grabbing on to the fleeing camels neck. Clinging with one arm nick grasped for the small pink canister on his belt. Scrunching his eyes he reached around and sprayed point blank in to the camel's eyes; Lawrence face-planted spectacularly with nicks weight on his back thoroughly winding him. Rolling off the camel on to all fours Nick began shaking his head and snorting through his nose trying to dislodge the agonising mixture of creosote and ammonia designed to disable foxes. He really needed to get some standard issue pepper spray.

After that Lawrence came without a struggle. As Nick read him his rights, Judy waved off bystanders trying to photograph the fox, who was standing on tip toe to reach the camels wrists with cuffs.

Back in the cruiser nick and Judy turned to face the larger animal, his face had returned to the same lazy half lidded calm Judy couldn't help but recognise from a certain fox; a confident, unconcerned look that masked any underlying turmoil.

"Those were some smooth moves back there fox, was that personal flair or is kamikaze standard practice for such, "vertically challenged" officers." His voice dripped with the same false nicety as before, but the blatant insult betrayed his insecurities. Judy ignored him, not playing his game.

"Mr Lawrence, we have you placing one Charles Vayu in contact with a dark web client, the result of which is you and every other inhabitant of Sahara Squair spending the next few days on the roadside."

"We have a team going through your computer with a fine tooth comb so don't lie," added nick

once again the façade dropped, ("Amateur" thought nick), it seemed Laurence he was genuinely shocked. "She was just some petty crook, what's she doing blowing up the climate wall."

"Then what did you think she wanted contact with a crane technician for?"

"I don't know, I find the people other people are looking for, I put them in contact and leave well alone."

"So, you meet your clients?"

No

"Say carrots, you reckon Mr big is still up."

"Ok Ok, I may have met her. She was an odd one, she didn't seem particularly familiar with underworld etiquette, so to speak, but she was interested in getting access to the stores. I assumed she wanted to pull off a robbery."

"Could you describe her?"

"Slender undulate, really small, bout your height, didn't catch species, wore a blue robe, big sunglasses. Met in a herbivore restaurant acacia avenue. That's all I got."

"Well" finished Judy brightly, turning around and punching the engine start while nick snapped his note book shut. "Your "robbery" resulted in a crane accident that destroyed the replacement pump in the wall and took off Vayu's leg. So I'd advise you rack that brain of yours, because until you can cough up some better evidence I don't see the court taking too kindly to Mr "didn't catch the species.""

The camel slumped starring intensely out of the window; it seemed either they had exhausted his knowledge or he was a harder nut to crack than they expected. That wasn't their problem now.

* * *

Dropping Lawrence off at the local station to be formally interrogated they headed for the wall. While they had made progress they had no idea who had set the bomb. Forensics had been on sight all day and so they were headed back to see what more they could glean regarding their mysterious bovine.

Back through security the couple met with, much to nicks amusement, a rabbit in a bunny suit. He was in his forties and had an unusually Squair jaw that made Judy suspect there may have been some Hare somewhere in the bloodline. "Rich cotton", he offered a paw, Which Judy shook enthusiastically. She had followed cottons career a little closer than she would care to admit.

"Great to meet you sir, you've been a real inspiration. Shut up nick" she anticipated the Growing smirk on the muzzle just above her head.

"Hi Rich," said nick his usual instant familiarity kicking in, offering his own paw. "Don't mind carrots, it's not like she has a scrap book of your newspaper cuttings or anything." He sidestepped, successfully dodging a punch to the rib cage. "So what we got?"

"From the start; we had a bomb tech have a look at the blast damage and he reckons were looking at ANFO. It's a cheap and nasty explosive, but, and here's the clever bit, it could be made entirely from ingredients already in the wall: Liquid Ammonia, liquid nitrogen and machine oil. Whoever was brewing it never had to bring anything through security. They must have been at it for weeks to avoid detection. But were still trying to sniff out where it was cooked; we brought in a wolf from the bomb squad but he nearly broke down and cried with all the ammonia still in the air.

"it was an inside job", concluded nick, sending Judy a significant glance, her ears drooped, knowing that the case against Izzy didn't look good.

"What about the ghost?" asked Judy, hoping for some chance at redemption. Nick however braced himself for the deathblow to Izzy's innocence.

"Ahh yes, your ghost in core five." Said cotton, pulling a sheet from his case file "Well, it seems ghosts shed." He passed the sheet containing a photo of a short piece of fur to Judy who held it up for nick to see. "We've sent it of for DNA but it looked like bovid fur, savanna dwelling by the colour. Nicks eyebrows shot up, Izzy had been telling the truth. He instantly felt a swell of regret and confusion. Judy meanwhile smiled despite feeling that twinge every cop new as a trail went cold.

"Any sign on the CCTV?" she asked

"No, the coverage is poor, only showing entrances and a few wide shots, nobody ever expected intruders to get in. As for the transponders; their meant for rescue work, so are only accurate inside the pipes. Thus we don't know who was near the compressor. Furthermore, we have no idea how our intruder got out, or in for that matter," Finished Cotton.

"Haven't you been searching for them, we don't know they got out?" asked nick

"Yes but we don't stand a chance without a sense of smell; Theirs five hundred miles of piping accessible to a medium size mammal in here; A thousand to someone the size of Mrs kingdom."

"As for the Crane, your right, the wheels are shattered. Someone implanted blasting caps in to the metal; only weigh a few grams but pack a hell of a punch."

"Thanks Mr Cotton" concluded Judy, fighting to keep her brow un-furrowed. "You've given us a lot to think on."

"I'll bet I have officer," he chuckled, "and By the way, the kits back home are far more excited for you than an ol bunny suit here," he said. Shaking her hand and saluting nick before turning back to his team who were still crawling all over the empty compressor mounting.

Judy shaking her star struck head looked back to nick, "welp, this is getting weird."

"You don't say, we have a bomb specifically designed to be convenient for an inside job, and an outsider breaking in by bribing another inside party with neither inside party seeming to know the other. Then we have another break in around the time of the bombing, possibly our bribing mastermind, if the fur matches up." nick reeled off, "It looks like we have some full scale Moriarty going on here." He said, frowning as they walked towards the staff room where they could pick up a coffee before filling their reports.

"So if the bomb was set by someone on the inside why did someone else need to set the charges on the crane" asked Judy,

Mabey they didn't want to draw attention to themselves, spread the blame," said nick

"It seems odd though that they would go to such lengths to pay someone else to open the storeroom when they already had someone else plant the bomb. Perhaps it was a specialist job"

"Nope, blasting caps are pretty easy to set, just a little volatile, not at all hard if you're making home brew in the meantime."

"Nick?"

"Another time carrots," He dismissed her suspicious glair. "It's as if the bomber had no idea that the crane would malfunction."

"Meaning that we really do have a Moriarty," Judy stroked her chin "but then we have an entirely different motive for our bomber, if their plan went through then the wall would have been fixed before this happened. Who could possibly gain from a flash in the pan?"

"Hang on, we could still be talking bribery and blackmail here." Countered nick

"But nothing showed in the financials,"

"There's more than one way to blackmail carrots, all it takes is a few naked phots and the threat of social media and any respectable citizen is putty in your hands."

"I somehow doubt it, anyway we don't even know who the ghost is yet, or when they got in, they could still be responsible."

As the conversation approached full circle the officers reached the breakroom as a familiar stoat exited the door, a comically large wrench slung over her shoulder.

"Hay Izzy" called Judy. Izzie looked up, waved and smiled. Seeming far more upbeat than when they left her back at her flat despite the tired droop in her tail.

"How's that political shitstorm coming along Goggles?"

"Great, George Buck just tweeted his resignation." She gave thumbs up before slapping her free paw back to her shoulder to steady the wrench.

"How's everyone else holding up."

"OK, were all just a bit shell shocked after Charles got carted off; how is he?" She looked up hopefully. Judie's ears dropped,

"What is it," gasped Izzy

"Izzy, Charles is fine, "began Judy, holding up her paws to calm Izzy" we've seen him awake but they had to take his leg." Izzy seemed to simply stop, her face becoming a mask as she stared passed judies concerned face; she blinked heavily and walked off as if she suddenly had something important to do. Judie followed cautiously behind, while nick, who was still mid guilt, trip pursued the pair.

Cassie had made for core five and was leaning against its pipework, feeling its rumble through her paws, breathing erratically when she felt a small fuzzy paw on her shoulder.

"What's wrong" repeated Judy, her eyes wide with sympathy.

"I did it," replied Izzy. She felt the rabbit flinch but the paw on her shoulder didn't tighten or retract as she expected it to.

"I'm sorry?" asked Judy

"I set the bomb"

Surprised by the sudden confession Judy stepped back ready to take action. But then, like a bolt slipping in to place in her brain, she understood everything. A wave of sympathy washed over her as she brought her arm around Izzy, who was firmly refusing to cry but instead was doing her best to melt in to the floor. Judy's training kept her very aware of the set of teeth next to her head but the show of affection was very real.

"Let's get you upstairs" she said softly.

* * *

In the break room Judy and nick sat across from Izzy; who seemed amazed that she wasn't yet in cuffs. Nick and Judy were playing it safe, wanting to extract as much information as possible before the stoat went in to emotional lockdown.

The interrogation was traumatic for all involved, Judy had come to consider the stoat as a friend and even though nick had held her at emotional arm's length throughout the investigation judy had known he was fond of the perky predator ever since he'd christened her goggles.

Upon catching a perp Nick usually turned his smug up to eleven. This time however he seemed to be showing more regret than Judy. Once Izzy's failing front had dropped an even more regretful animal had emerged.

"We know you didn't do this alone" said Judy, "you were manipulated, you had no idea how far this would lead. You just wanted to scare the city council in to approving the walls upgrade; no one was supposed to get hurt."

"You wanted to keep quiet but you're too good a person for that." continued nick" Now tell us, who suggested the bomb."

Izzy's jaw hung open, amazed they knew so much, her ears began twitching nervously. "Sara, Sara put me on to it."

"Roommate Sara?" asked Judy

"Yes,"

"Anything more than Sara to go on?" asked nick.

"Ugh," Izzy stuttered, her eyes darting around the room as she searched her memory, panicking as she realised how little she knew. She pulled out her mobile, opening social media, "she must be in here somewhere." Nick hoped up and checked over her shoulder; making Shure she wasn't messaging anyone.

After a few minutes searching her heart sank as she found nothing, carefully she locked her phone and placed it face down on the table, "No I don't know anything."

"Second name, species?"

" **Mouse-deer** , but I only ever knew her as Sara"

"And you let her convince you to plant a bomb." Nick raised an eyebrow .

"We always got along, we went out for meals, went bowling. You don't spend much time at home in an apartment that small. She knew I worked in the wall and we talked about it and she saw my leaflets and suggested a bomb as a joke and I guess it snowballed."

"Is there any chance she knew about this before meeting you" asked Judy

"Yes, we've been going at city hall for years"

Neither nick nor Judy needed to explain the situation; it was all too blindingly obvious.

"Right, we need as detailed description as possible to plug in to the system" said nick, breaking the awkward silence.

* * *

Half an hour later when it had been time to leave they had, with heavy heart, cuffed Izzy; who came without a word and now sat in the back of the cruiser. They phoned a description off to Clawhouser who began grinding the gears of the ZPD database.

Judy and nick understood her frustration, while funding at the ZPD was far from short, they were always clamouring for more. They could only imagine doing the same to maintain a multi-billion dollar machine; let alone upgrade it.

As nick took the cruiser towards tundra town station Judy sighed; glancing behind in to the caged off rear seat to see that, despite her situation, the mechanic was fast asleep, bowled over by the day's exertions.

Back at precinct one Nick and Judy found themselves in the usual tumult of paperwork that accompanied police investigations. It was approaching midnight when they, along with the rest of their shift were ordered to get some rest, as they would be needed tomorrow to assist the displaced citizenry; the case could wait.

Exiting the break room where the two had been working on their reports and consuming coffee from elephant sized paper cups, nick and Judy found the station converted in to a rear staging post for the evacuation. The cube farm had been stripped out and camp beds for the various emergency services erected. Nick and Judy had showered and were getting ready for a power nap. Both according to Clawhouser, looking adorable, in borrowed ZPD gym shirts sized for wolves acting as night gowns. Their brains were still racing with sociopathic mouse-deer. But they, like Izzy, were flat, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

* * *

It was five the next morning, the first light of dawn cut through the street lighting and fire chiefs cautiously watched thermometers rise as they withdrew their crews from Sahara square, tanks empty having doused the district repeatedly; knowing it could only offset the fire risk for a couple of hours.

feeling thoroughly unrefreshed after barely four hours sleep Nick and Judy pulled on their spare uniforms, for nick this meant neoprene and Judy dress shirt, bogo however ensured the tiny mammal wore her Kevlar vest over the top which, while non regulation, was deemed necessary in the turbulent environment around Sahara Squair.

"Judy! Nick!" called Clawhouser across the improvised dormitory, nick smiled as the cheetah ran towards them, apologising as he stumbled over mammals dragging themselves in to uniforms. Panting as he approached them he offered up a piece of paper; "we got a match on your description."

The paper showed a young orax with a severe expression. She wore a light robe, as was the fashion in Sahara Squair. "Sara Yetmgeta," began Clawhouser "hedge fund child. Saw her farther mauled by a wolf fifteen years ago on a trip abroad. She has no priors, but has been on a watch list as vocal a member of extreme anti-predator group, "New Chain"; that's chain as in food chain" he clarified, looking sad.

"Mauled by a wolf" asked Nick, obviously troubled at the thought of savagery, "nighthowler?"

"No, mob hit, he got himself deep in a bad deal and was made an example off. To some mammals that means a mauling."

"Mammals being the operative word" growled nick "not predators."

"Tell that to a twelve year old deer facing down a Siberian." Sighed Clawhouser.

"Why would an anti-pred group attack the climate wall?" Asked Judy; steering the conversation away from turbulent waters.

"That why we took so long to find her we spent all night going through the usual anarchist and oversees threats , they threw up nothing, so for due diligence we threw in speciesism and the system threw her up."

"But why" reiterated Judy,

"I duno."

Nick who had been silently staring at the profile perked up. "The ten-ninety ratio everyone always talks about is a generalisation. Everyone knows that tundra town is predator central. The arctic is naturally Pred heavy, and most of the herd animals like to live in the meadows. At the inter borough rugby game the Sahara's would always make a great buffet for the tundra's. If you don't like Preds you don't like tundra town."

"Then why go for the wall, they lost their bet on taking out tundra town." rebutted Judy.

"I'll bet they knew Sahara Squair would get it. They want to make the city council look anti prey."

"So what happens when nothing happens and everyone returns to their melted bath curtains unscathed."

Nicks ears dropped, "they won't leave that to chance."

He clicked his fingers at Clawhouser. "Ben, I need Bogo on the line, this isn't over."

* * *

dun dun dun

Will Sahara Squair burn to the ground?

What is nicks mysterious background in explosives?

And dose sun-tan cream even exist in Zootopia (OMG they don't need sun tan cream)

Probably find the at least one answer in the next instalment of...

 **Mystery, stoats and thermodynamics.**

(organ music fades)


End file.
